You Give Love a Bad Name
by Spannerspoon
Summary: "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame. Darling you give love, a bad name." - The Doctor and Rose land in Cardiff where an assassin waits. Multi POV fic
1. The Doctor

**You Give Love a Bad Name**

**Here we are old friend, you and me, on the first page. Yes, this is it! My first, planed-to-be-completed, multi-chaptered fic; ready for launch! This idea came to me a while ago, but with assignments and all the things it got pushed to the side. But at time of posting I have the first 4 chapters done and hope to post a chapter every two weeks or so. I know what you're asking; **_**if they're written, why not post them now**_**? Simple. I'm stuck with the 5****th**** chapter! So in theory, by the time I'm due to post, I should have had the killer idea on how to write the next bit, written it, and post it on time :)**

**So without further ado… here's the first chapter. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1 – The Doctor**

It was sunny. It wasn't supposed to be sunny when the world ended. It was, in fact, for all intents and purposes, an utterly normal day. The Doctor and Rose had touched down in Cardiff and left the TARDIS refuelling on the Rift and Rose had demanded they meet with Jackie to catch up. After the usual arguing and complaints that he "_didn't do domestic_" and that the "_hydro-acidic purifiers on the third interface __**really**__ needed testing, cause if they blow then we're dead and you really don't want that, do you Rose_?" and "_Really Rose, she's __**your**__ mum, why do __**I**__ have to see her_?" before he caved to the inevitable and indomitable will of one Rose Tyler and agreed – approximately two minutes before Jackie Tyler had pounded impatiently on the TARDIS front door.

With the Doctor still grumbling good-naturedly, the trio set off around the bay. The Doctor kept an eye out for Jack, for once _hoping_ to run into the immortal (despite his fixed-point wrongness), if only to avoid being the only man in what was turning out to be a very girly conversation. Honestly, what did he care who was the hottest soap star of the moment? He noticed Rose's eyes occasionally flicking back to him as if in comparison. He smirked, running a hand through his already somewhat dishevelled hair. 900 years and he's still got it.

It was as he was lowering his hand that he felt it. He stopped, puzzled. Something had hit him in the chest. It almost felt as if he'd been punched but looking around him there was no one within swinging distance, except for Rose and Jackie, and they weren't facing him. Jackie had always preferred a famous Tyler slap rather than punching him, although in recent months she had decided her favourite form of attack was to try and kiss him – equally as terrifying in his opinion; and Rose was happily chatting to her mum, and he hadn't done anything to annoy her so far, so she couldn't have punched him. The Doctor's eyebrow rose. How very strange. Maybe he'd imagined it?

But there was something else, something that was nagging at the corner of his frankly magnificent intellect; the very ground he stood on seemed to be behaving oddly. He'd told Rose about it once, the first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. He'd told her that; about how he can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath their feet spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and he can feel it. But now it was behaving in a very odd manner. The ground he stood on now seemed to be running uphill; but that was impossible! The Doctor knew it was flat. How could the bay be at the top of a hill? All the water would fall off! But now it was definitely slanting. Even the Millennium Centre was leaning to one side – the Doctor giggled to himself. The building looked drunk! Like the tower of Pisa! But how could a building be drunk? This wasn't like Felspoon where the mountains would sway in the breeze or Ventoso Sidere 5 where the winds were so strong buildings were built looking like they'd already been pushed over. He'd have to take Rose there some time – although she'd probably just moan the wind would mess up her hair.

For the first time in a very long while, the Doctor didn't understand what was happening. The Earth was moving in a way it wasn't supposed to and now the colours were draining out of the air. Even as he watched, the world went from the vibrant colours of a bright summer's day to black, white and grey. Although, fascinatingly enough, there were still splashes of colour here and there; the bright blue of the TARDIS behind him, a distant woman's mauve sweater (never a good colour, mauve), his pink and yellow human ahead…

…and the red of blood. The Doctor looked down, surprised. His whole front was turning a deep crimson, even his coat. He loved that coat! Janis Joplin gave him this coat! He frowned, something definitely wasn't right here. But despite his large and magnificent Time Lord brain, he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. And the dull, clanging sound echoing inside his head wasn't helping. It was so loud that it was drowning out the sound of the traffic and people around him. Or maybe, all of that had faded away?

The ringing was getting louder. A heavy, metallic, clanging sound – driving all thoughts out of the Doctor's head apart from the colour of the woman's jumper. The woman who had turned to look at him, and he watched, fascinated. She was screaming, but she was making no sound.

Then the very pavement on which he was standing played a trick on him; tilting so suddenly that it seemed to turn upside down. His time senses must have slipped, because suddenly Rose was there when he was sure she had been ahead of him with her mother. But she was always there for him wasn't she? Well, he supposed, there were times when she'd wandered off and he had to go save her – maybe that's what was going on! Maybe he had to go save Rose now. That would explain the strange things going on. Obviously, he had been looking for clues to save her, that's why he noticed the strange things. So this must be the last clue – her face in front of him, silently screaming his name. Well that was fine; Molto bene! He knew the answer to this one. It hadn't been that long since Magpie's electricals and the Wire. He'd saved a silently screaming Rose Tyler then, so this must be the same thing – he could do that. Although a little voice nagged in the back of his mind, hadn't he already stopped the Wire? And Rose definitely seemed solidly in front of him…

"I'm on my way." That's what he'd said to her, but this time his mouth wouldn't work. The words stuck in his throat, almost as if he couldn't get enough air. But that was silly; his respiratory bypass should take care of that. A Time Lord could go without breathing for several minutes, superior Time Lord Physiology and all. Wasn't it working? Mentally checking his body, the Doctor started to panic. Respiratory bypass: failed. More worryingly, the nerves in his left shoulder were firing painfully – it was a wonder he was still standing! But then, there was the scratch of pavement against his cheek. Ah. Right. So maybe he wasn't standing. When had that happened? He tried to check through his time sense but it seemed jumbled and wasn't making any sense… '_Still!_' He thought, _no point lying in around here_. He had to go save Rose. Honestly, she set new levels for jeopardy friendly companions.

So… Where to find her? The Doctor tried to get up, but his body wasn't responding to his commands. Rose was looking scared, still silently screaming his name. He wanted to hold her hand, tell her it would be alright, that he would save her; but his arms would no longer obey him. His whole body felt heavy, like he had no control over it anymore, like even the basic functions were shutting down…

He wasn't breathing anymore, but he hadn't noticed. Rose had rolled him onto his side – when had that happened? – and her hand snaked towards his chest. The Doctor blinked in confusion, eye lids oddly heavy; he had to go save her. That's what he did. He was the Doctor and he saved the universe and Rose Tyler. But how could he go and save her if she was already here? Maybe he'd done it already? Well, he was brilliant. And rude. And not ginger. He tried to grin, but he couldn't make his muscles work properly. And oh his head hurt, the dull clanging of a bell was still echoing in his head – even if Rose was safe, there was still danger here, and he meant fatal. The words from emergency programme one suddenly filled his head. How odd.

_We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape. _

Why would he think of that now? Rose reached out and touched him, her fingers feather light and oddly burning hot against his skin. Her small palm pressing against the small hole in his chest.

Oh.

There was no pain. Just a sense of tiredness. He was so old now, so tired. All that running, and that time when they had had to hop for their lives! He smiled, a slow smile that barely had the energy to lift the corner of his lips. So much running with his pink and yellow human. This pink and yellow human who was holding her little hand against his chest and cradling his head and crying. Why was she crying? No one should make his Rose cry. Oh, but she was beautiful. Even her tears were beautiful, a luminescent gold that sparkled as they fell from her golden eyes. But that was wrong, his Rose shouldn't cry.

"Rose." A whisper? A shout? Or maybe just his imagination over the clanging bells. But her lips turned up at the corners – just a little, but that was all he needed.

The Doctor smiled and closed his eyes.

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**Yay! So this was a little birthday present to myself to post this today – as said at the top, the next chapter will be posted in 2 weeks!**

**Drop me a review and let me know what you thought!**

**Love and hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	2. Rose

**Hello again! Here we are with the second chapter, possibly the shortest of all of them so far. Ah well!**

**UPDATE: And this is why we don't leave our laptops unattended… The Mickey invasion has repelled!**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_Verity359_**, thanks for the review!**

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**Chapter 2 - Rose**

It was sunny. It wasn't supposed to be sunny when the world ended. It was, in fact, for all intents and purposes, an utterly normal day. The TARDIS had been wheezing for weeks now, and her landings had been becoming rougher and less like landings and more like crashes. Of course, being the Doctor, he'd tried to put the TARDIS' discomfort off as Rose's imagination, but after several well-crafted digs at his driving skills – even the Doctor had to admit that they needed to stop off in Cardiff to refuel. And of course (in the Doctor's words) Rose _would_ have to turn this stop in to a domestic – calling her mum to Cardiff for a good catch up. She'd put up with the Doctor's half-hearted moaning and whining for a full hour (only because she'd seen right through it, the mad man was a complete pushover and a softy when it came to getting what she wanted) before ignoring him and calling her mum anyway. Rose had _even_ put up with her mother's moaning and whinging that she would have to go to _Cardiff_ of all places! (Rose had seen right through that too), before abruptly cutting her off, hanging up the phone and wandering back to her room to get changed.

An only-just-this-side-of-not-being-a-painful-crash-landing later and Jackie Tyler appeared in all her track suited glory on the TARDIS monitor. Less than a minute later her impatient hammering on the door had accompanied a somewhat shrill, "I know you're in there! Put my daughter down you mad alien! Doctor!"

"Subtle, your mother, isn't she?" grumbled the Doctor from his perch on the railing, eyeing the door distastefully. "Almost enough to disrupt the perception filter, with that mouth of hers. Although-" he paused, tugging his left ear slightly, sucking the air in through his teeth "for all the rest of the world knows, she's just a mad woman yelling to herself in the middle of Cardiff bay." He grinned "Might just get herself arrested before I have to step outside." A more manic grin slowly bloomed across his face "Then it's not _my_ fault if we can't go shopping because we had to spend our time going to bail her out instead – ooh I like that!"

"Doctor!" chided Rose, having finally pulled herself up from the TARDIS floor with a grin "Play nicely with my mum or we'll have to take a trip back to Amazonia Prime. Never did get to finish that spa day as _someone_ seemed to think it was funny to get himself arrested for impersonating the president-"

"It was a simple mistake to make-"

"The _female_ president."

"Well it wasn't my fault!" spluttered the Doctor, trying very hard not to recall the image of Rose being forcibly thrown into his prison cell wearing little more than a string bikini for the crime of being his accomplice "How was I supposed to know we'd landed during the female revolution and all men were banned in the city?! If you ask me-"

"I didn't." interrupted Rose, grinning with her tongue lightly touching her front teeth. The Doctor continued as if he hadn't heard her.

"…quite a few of those 'women' guards had as manly, hairy hands as I do! Not as manly as mine but-"

"God, 'e goes on a bit, doesn't he? Oh look at you sweethear'! How are you? Where have you been? Ooh, tell you wha' – show me where the kitchen is an' I'll make us all a cuppa-"

Rose grinned at the Doctor's horrified face. While he had been ranting, she's snuck down to the TARDIS exterior doors and let her mum in, preferring to see her _before_ she got herself arrested.

As Jackie bustled her way to the kitchen, (the TARDIS happily removing the doors from the corridors apart from the ones leading to the cleanest kitchen), the Doctor turned to pout at Rose.

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. But apparently not enough to stop your mother! I was relying on those doors! We'll never get rid of her now!"

"Oh shut up." She replied beaming, taking his hand and dragging him down the corridor after her mum "It's only a cup of tea." Rose's grin widened, wickedly, "Or we could just start shopping now, if you'd prefer…"

The Doctor's eyes widened before he dived forwards, now tugging Rose towards the kitchen by their joined hands, "No! Nope! Love a good cup of tea, me!" he babbled "All those free radicals and tannins, nothing better!"

Rose just laughed at him and let herself be dragged into the kitchen.

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Everything had gone surprisingly smoothly considering this was her mother and the Doctor together in a small space; and even during their shopping trip, everything had gone smoothly. There had been polite conversation between the two, no arguing, no one had been arrested or slapped, no alien invasions or major world events taking place; just a simple bit of Earth retail therapy. Granted, most of it had been window shopping, but Rose had had an excellent day with the two most important people in her life, and a good old fashioned gossip with her mum.

"…I'm just saying, he's got great hair and since he's lost the weight, I wouldn't kick him out of bed-"

"He's on the telly, mum!" Rose grinned, sneaking a glance at her own much-thinner-than-he-was and great haired eye candy "An' he's minted, course you wouldn't kick 'im out your bed!"

"Ooh you cheeky prat!" Jackie screeched, walloping Rose on the arm playfully, "I brought you up better than that! No respect for your poor old mum!"

Rose snickered and was about to retort when a surprised "Oomph!" came from the Doctor. Fully expecting him to have walked into something (again!), Rose rolled her eyes and turned to look at her mad alien with an eyebrow raised.

"You alright there Doc-" she stopped; the playful smirk sliding off her face as she stared in horror at the Doctor, and his darkening shirt.

"Rose, what are you- Oh my god!" Jackie, noticing Rose was no longer walking next to her, turned around.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, lurching forwards to catch the Doctor as his knees buckled and he dropped to the pavement. Quickly turning him onto his side, Rose cradled his head in her lap, staring dumbfounded as the thick crimson liquid soaked his shirt.

"Doctor! Can you hear me? Doctor?!"

Rose's voice cracked as her hand slipped underneath his shirt collar, trying to stop the bleeding. There, just a fraction of an inch above his left heart, was a small, jagged hole. Panic crawled down Rose's spine like icy water, he'd been shot!

Distantly, Rose heard her mum scream for an ambulance, but Rose blanked the sound out, focusing on the injured man in front of her. "I've got you. Look, it's me, Doctor! Don't die. Oh my god, don't die, please Doctor, don't die!" Rose panicked. She didn't know what to do! She'd travelled with him, seen all manner of amazing things, but when she was at home, she was useless! This was just like Christmas! Just like with the Sycorax, she'd been utterly helpless to save him then too – but this was different, a cup of tea couldn't fix a bullet wound…

Rose blinked, suddenly coming back into herself from her panic, a small smile appearing on her face. The TARDIS! She'd be able to help! If Rose could just get the Doctor to the Med Bay, she could use the stasis chamber until she could figure out which emergency programme held the nanogenes, or at least something like it.

The Doctor sagged in her arms, eyes slipping closed. "No! Doctor!" Rose screamed, horrified, suddenly aware of her tears splashing down onto his ashen face. "Mum! We 'ave ta get 'im into the TARDIS!"

Jackie rushed forwards, shoving her mobile phone into her hoodie pocket as she did so. Her eyes widened at the amount of blood currently soaking the Doctor's shirt and the way Rose's eyes shimmered with an almost golden glow but pushed these thoughts aside as she knelt by her daughter.

"Don't worry sweetheart." She soothed, internally cringing at her choice of words – don't worry?! "Help's on the way love. We'll sort it."

Rose whirled to face her "We can't let them take 'im to a 'ospital! They'll kill 'im!"

"I know sweetheart!" Jackie stammered, taken aback by the almost feral snarl that seemed to rumble in her daughter's throat, "I called Mickey, he's got some of himself's sort of help on the way. But 'e said we can't move the Doctor or they won't know where we are."

To Jackie's surprise, Rose grinned. The golden hint in her eyes seemed far more prominent, and her smile suddenly had too many teeth. "We move him to the Med Bay. The TARDIS can help him until they get here and if they are not friends of the Doctor, the TARDIS will help me protect him."

"But we can't–"

Rose ignored her, carefully lowering the Doctor's head from her lap before standing. "I want you safe, my Doctor." She smiled gently at the prone man, more luminescent tears slipping down her cheeks. She turned to address the crowd that had gathered around the fallen Doctor. "You will disperse." She ordered, her cockney accent noticeably absent. "You will forget the events you have witnessed here." Her eyes appeared to pulse as the crowd turned as one away from the scene and walked away, continuing their day as if nothing unusual had happened.

Jackie gaped at her daughter in shock. How on Earth had she done that?! Even the Doctor couldn't do that as far as she knew. Could he? He was an alien, maybe he could do all sorts of tricks like that to get what he wanted? But how could her Rose do something like that? And her eyes… Jackie was pulled from her thoughts as Rose's shoulders slumped forwards as she took an unsteady step backwards.

"Rose?" Jackie asked concerned as the younger Tyler woman seemed to sway in place before seeming to snap out of it, blinking furiously. Rose's brown eyes focused back onto the world around her before catching on the Doctor's still form.

"Mum! We nee' ta move 'im! Help me!"

Mentally shoving the strangeness of the last few minutes aside, Jackie bent down to pick up the Doctor's skinny legs. Why Rose couldn't have ordered a few of those strong looking men to stay and help, Jackie didn't know. But wisely, she decided to keep her mouth shut on the matter.

One precarious trip to the TARDIS Med Bay later, and Rose had the Doctor wired into the stasis chamber. Jackie, meanwhile, had gone to put the kettle on saying, "If it helped at Christmas, it can't do any harm now". Rose sat, perched on the edge of the Doctor's bed, nervously chewing her finger nail. The TARDIS hummed reassuringly to the girl and she absent-mindedly stroked a nearby coral strut. Now all she could do was to wait until help showed up. She glanced at the Doctor's ashen face and gently stroked his hair back from his forehead.

'_Please Mickey_,' she thought, '_please have gotten the right help…'_

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**So yeah, lesson in life: Never leave your laptop unattened with your work up *shakes fists* silly people!**

**Nothing else to add here, so I'll just say: Drop me a review and let me know what you thought!**

**Love and hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	3. Jackie

**Here it is… chapter 3! And this time the laptop has NOT been left unattended. Although I do have an extra crack-y chapter which I'll publish at the end – written by a friend of mine who was SUPPOSED to be beta reading it. *sigh***

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 3 – Jackie**

It seemed to Jackie that she lived to hear that stupid ringtone that the Doctor had set up. The annoying _Barbie Girl_ tune that she couldn't change no matter how hard she tried and Rose refused to, claiming her "_jiggery-pokery wasn't as good as his_" – whatever _that_ meant. As much as Jackie hated the actual song, she loved what it meant… Rose was calling.

"Hello sweetheart. When are you?"

Rose's giggle echoed down the phone line. "Hi Mum! Can't stay on long, the Doctor's driving so I might have to cling on to something any minute." Rose giggled again and Jackie heard the distinctive "Oi!" of himself in the background.

Jackie sniggered. "So when are you sweetheart? Are you coming home soon?"

Rose smiled from her seat on the Captain's chair by the TARDIS console, "Yeah, we'll be landing in Cardiff on– " a pause " 'ang on, when are we landing?"

"24th of June, 2007, 11:03 in the morning, and the wind will be coming from the East."

A laugh. "You think you're so impressive!"

"I am so impressive!"

"You wish!" Jackie smiled as she listened to the two of them banter back and forth. "_You've only been gone 12 hours, Rose_. Or how about, _I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860_. Sound familiar Doctor?"

"Ah, now! Past regeneration – doesn't count!"

"1979, Sheffield. Hell of a year. 1879, Scotland. Same difference."

"Ah, well, yes you might have me there, but we got to meet Queen Victoria!"

Rose laughed again, putting on an effected posh accent "We are _not_ amused."

The Doctor laughed as well, "Indeed we are not, Dame Tyler."

More laughter, "You know you never did pay me that tenner, Sir Doctor!"

Sat on her sofa back in London, Jackie listened to the pair of them banter with a small smile on her face. Well wherever and whenever they were, Rose sounded happy, and even better, she was coming home! ...ish. Sort of. Well, at least it was Earth?

"What're you landin' in bleedin' Cardiff for?!" Jackie interrupted "Is 'is driving really that bad? I'll have to book a hotel for a week! You'll never make the right day! An' really Rose? Bleedin' Cardiff? What's wrong with-"

Jackie heard a slight _click_ and paused suddenly. Confused, she looked down at her phone. Jackie's eyebrows rose in annoyance.

"She hung up on me! The cheeky devil!"

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And so there she was, on the 24th of June, wandering around Roald Dahl Plass at 11am waiting to see if that mad alien she practically called a son-in-law could land that box of his properly. Thankfully, Rose had already told her where abouts in Cardiff this supposed rift was; otherwise Jackie was sure she'd have been wandering around in the completely wrong part of the city hunting for the small blue box.

As her watch ticked past 11 o'clock, Jackie sighed. She hadn't actually booked a hotel room to stay in for a week, but now she thought about it, maybe she should have. She looked out across the water as she leaned against the railing. After all, he said he'd aimed for twelve hours after the explosion of Hendricks, and look what had happened there! Twelve months! But, as luck would have it (or rather the TARDIS would have it as a favour to her favourite pink and yellow human, rather than the skills of her daft pilot) just as Jackie's watched ticked onto three minutes past the hour she heard the engines. That wheezing, groaning sound that filled her with hope every time she heard it. Rose was home!

Well… Cardiff. But close enough.

Before the box had even finished fully appearing, Jackie had set off across the bay to hammer on the TARDIS door concealing her daughter. Less than a minute later her impatient hammering on the door had accompanied a somewhat shrill, "I know you're in there! Put my daughter down you mad alien! Doctor!"

There was a pause where nothing happened; thinking they hadn't heard her, Jackie decided to pound on the door again. Just as she was raising her fist to knock, the doors opened and her Rose appeared grinning widely.

"Hi Mum!" she whispered, a cheeky glint in her eye, "Come on in! Don't mind him." She nodded over her shoulder to where the Doctor stood, mid-rant, hands waving in emphasis.

"…quite a few of those 'women' guards had as manly, hairy hands as I do! Not as manly as mine but-"

"God, 'e goes on a bit, doesn't he?" Jackie grinned, stepping through the TARDIS doors and glancing around at the high ceiling, before turning her attention back to her daughter. "Oh look at you sweethear'! How are you? Where have you been? Ooh, tell you wha' – show me where the kitchen is an' I'll make us all a cuppa-"

Jackie noticed Rose grinning at the Doctor's somewhat horrified face, and she barely held back a snicker. Turning towards the corridor Jackie headed down towards what she hoped was the kitchen.

"Now which way was it? Did she say left, right or ..?" Jackie broke off, suddenly noticing there was now only one other door in the corridor. "Well aren't you just a sweetheart then?" Jackie said to the TARDIS, "My Rose always said you know what was going on, but it never made any sense to me." Jackie shrugged. "Just so long as you're 'elping look after my little girl, 's all I want." For some odd reason, Jackie felt something like a pulse of warmth from the ship that seemed to both reassure her and agree with her statement. The blonde woman shrugged again, it was alien. An alien ship that was bigger on the inside, could change rooms and move through space and time. It wasn't that surprising to think it helped look after her daughter too. And as far as she was concerned, that's all there was too it. Jackie walked through several more corridors before appearing in a very homely (and surprisingly clean) kitchen.

Jackie nodded in approval, taking in the warm, bright, honey coloured room. It was almost as if someone had plucked her dream kitchen straight from her mind, with a few TARDIS style twists. It was a large, open space with exposed coral rafters and polished coral-topped wooden units. One wall was lined with French windows that appeared to open out onto a large lawn of what Jackie could only describe as red grass. And there, above the sink, another window looked out on a great mountain range that glistened brightly in the sunlight. Jackie had no idea how it was possible to have a garden, or mountains or even sunlight on board a ship – but she had long since stopped worrying how these things happened and just enjoyed them for what they were; And she was certainly enjoying this kitchen! A tasteful mix of old, country-cottage charm, elegantly mixed full of new age gadgets and appliances. Most of which, Jackie noted ruefully, she would have _no idea_ how to use; even if she had a month of Sundays! Which, Jackie supposed, it was quite possible to have a month of Sundays on the TARDIS.

Smiling, she walked past a rustic looking table and headed towards the central island to where a 21st century-looking kettle rested. It was just boiling as the Doctor and Rose burst in through the door.

"No! Nope! Love a good cup of tea, me!" he babbled "All those free radicals and tannins, nothing better!"

Jackie raised an eyebrow at the pair of them. Not together her foot. Her mother's eye instantly zeroed in on their joined hands, how he leaned towards her daughter, how she looked at him in the same way Jackie knew she had looked at Pete. Hopeless, the pair of them. Trying to contain her happy smile she turned on the Doctor.

"What are you babbling about now, you daft alien?"

For a second, he looked almost surprised to see her there, arms folded comfortably across her chest, head titled slightly to the side, standing bold as brass in the honey kitchen. Not that he'd ever admit it, but this was the Doctor's favourite of the five kitchens the TARDIS currently held, so it took him a while to marry up the image of Jackie Tyler in his favourite cooking space.

"Erm..? Tea?" he replied, somewhat hesitantly, glancing back at Rose, hoping she would help him out of this frankly awkward and bizarre conversation.

"Tea?" Jackie repeated, raising an eyebrow at the pair of them. "Well you skinny idiot, aren't you goin' to say hello?" she asked before rapidly advancing on him, placing two hands on the side of his head in a pincer grip, and pulling him down to peck him on the lips. Jackie did her best not to laugh at the disgusted-six-year-old face he pulled before wiping his lips on the back of his hand that was not still clutching her daughters.

Rose giggled at his expression and took pity on the Doctor. "Here Mum," she said, releasing his other hand and stepping around him to stand next to her Mum. "I'll show you where we keep the tea. There's this great one we picked up from… oh where was it Doctor? The blue one?"

He smiled, settling into one of the wooden chairs by the table "Mars."

Rose turned to mock-glare at him, "No it wasn't. You're just saying that to wind up my Mum! You know… the blue tea? From the planet with the dancing flowers?"

"Wandering flowers, Rose – and it was _U__bax__A__mbaday_, in the Horse Head Nebula."

"_U__bax__A__mbaday_, right – oh yeah, 'cause we only went there so you could make that joke about me wandering off!" She grinned and turned back to her Mum "It's brilliant tea, it tastes like strawberries! I don't mean like strawberry flavour, but like actual strawberries! It's the weirdest thing, but it's so good!"

"Don't you have any _normal_ tea?" asked Jackie, "You know, Earl Grey? Twinning's? That sort of thing? 'Cause if I'd known, I'd have popped to the Co-op before I came in."

The Doctor stared at her, looking for all the world that he was deeply offended by her question. "Are you saying, Jacqueline Tyler," he grilled her, over enunciating the words "that I don't know what normal tea is?"

Rose laughed at the slightly scared look on her Mum's face. "Course we have normal tea Mum. Ignore 'im, he's just being a prat." She stuck her tongue out at the Doctor and he gasped in mock horror, before sticking his tongue out in return. "Second shelf, third cupboard on the right." Jackie smiled as she reached into the directed cupboard, pulling out a nearly empty box of Earl Grey. Out of the corner of her eye she watched the Doctor stand up from his seat and reach around Rose to grab the mugs as she pulled the milk out of the fridge. They seemed to work in perfect synchronisation as they pulled out the tea things, unconsciously working around each other in a way that only happens after a lot of practice. Setting the box of tea bags onto the side, Jackie stepped back out of the way to grab a seat at the table as the two of them prepared the tea. Not together, her foot.

In short order, each of them were sat comfortably at the table sipping their various teas. In the end they'd all settled on a good strong cup of Earl Grey, although Jackie had watched in mild horror at the six spoonful's of sugar the Doctor had added to his. Then again… that did explain a lot. Not surprisingly, the Doctor was babbling again. "You humans and your tea. It's brilliant! Although… it's more the British thing really isn't it? You've got the right idea, haven't you? No other country or even any other species have a time dedicated just to drinking tea. You lot are mad for it! You've even got auctions for the stuff. Oh that tea auction in 1920 Rose, do you remember?"

Rose grinned, "You mean the one in London, where you almost started a riot?"

"Nah, not that one." He grinned back "The one on the Delta Tea asteroid, and that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes? Do you remember? The way she looked at you! And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out!"

Rose laughed at the memory, leaning back into her chair, of which the Doctor's arm was strung across the back rest. "I thought I was going to get frazzled!" she grinned, absent mindedly shifting closing in the Doctor's casual embrace.

His eyes sparkled with mischief, "Yeah. One minute she's standing there, and the next minute… roar!" he imitated the munchkin lady and he and Rose cracked up laughing.

"She never did!" gasped Jackie, "What'd she go and do that for?!"

Rose grinned, glancing at the Doctor, who had the decency to look partly ashamed, although there was still mischief in his eye. Not totally repentant then. "Well _someone_ and I'm mentioning no names 'ere, only went and insulted her and her families tea growing business, telling them they'd been doing it wrong for centuries and then… he only goes and blames it on me!"

"'e didn't!" Jackie grinned, "'ow'd you get 'im back then? 'cause I know what you're like. What'd you do?"

For the first time, the Doctor actually looked nervous. "Surely Rose, we don't need to tell your Mum this…"

Rose grinned wickedly, leaning conspiratorially closer to her Mum. "In revenge, I got the TARDIS to hide all his tea!" Jackie clapped her hands in amusement laughing at the Doctor's dejected face. "And!" continued Rose between her giggles "and I didn't tell her to do this!" Rose broke into laughter again catching the look on the Doctor's face "She hid all his shoes!" Rose crowed, tears of mirth streaking down her cheeks.

The Doctor folded his arms and pouted.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

It wasn't too much later that their cups had been placed in the sink and the Tyler women (and a still grumbling good-naturedly Doctor) left the TARDIS and set out into Cardiff. After several hours of window shopping and the occasional _I-need-to-buy-that-now!_ item; Rose, Jackie and the Doctor began to head back towards the TARDIS. As short as it had seemed to her, Jackie had had an excellent day with two of the most important people in her life, and a good old fashioned gossip with her daughter about proper Earth things as well as all that crazy alien stuff she got up to. Currently, Jackie and Rose were discussing the current TV heart-throbs.

"…I'm just saying," said Jackie, nudging her daughter in the side "he's got great hair and since he's lost the weight, I wouldn't kick him out of bed-"

"He's on the telly, Mum!" Rose grinned, and Jackie noticed her sneaking a glance at her much-thinner-than-he-was and great haired alien. Her daughter was many things, but subtle was not one of them. "An' he's minted, course you wouldn't kick 'im out your bed!"

"Ooh you cheeky prat!" Jackie screeched, walloping Rose on the arm playfully, "I brought you up better than that! No respect for your poor old Mum!"

Rose snickered and was about to retort when a surprised "Oomph!" came from behind them. Jackie ignored him, fully expecting him to be pulling a face and having bitten his tongue instead of making a rude comment about her. And he'd been doing so well…

"You alright there Doc-" Rose asked as Jackie continued on, tuning the pair of them out. No doubt the two of them were making eyes at each other again. Not together her foot. Smiling, Jackie shook her head, but then noticed after several paces that her daughter was no longer walking next to her. She turned around.

"Rose, what are you- Oh my god!"

Jackie froze, the amused smile sliding off her face as she stared in horror at the Doctor, and his darkening shirt.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked again, "Call an ambulance!"

Jackie's brain short circuited as she stood petrified, gaping at the Doctor. So his blood was red then. Was all alien blood red? Or was it just his? She'd always thought it would be green, or some other weird colour, like out of Star Trek but maybe… she shook herself. Now wasn't the time for that! Oh god, this was worse than Christmas! Jackie's inner ranting ground to a shuddering halt. Oh god! Christmas! Evil Christmas trees, robot Santa's, an injured Doctor…

TWO HEARTBEATS! LOCK HIM UP AND DISSECT HIM! What was it Rose had said? One bottle of his blood would change the entire future of the human race?! They couldn't call an ambulance! But he needed help! '_Oh god!_' Jackie thought, '_What the hell do I do?'_ Panicking, Jackie pulled out her mobile and dialled the only number she knew that might be of any help. After a quick dial tone, the other end picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mickey! Oh my god! Thank goodness, it's Jackie!"

"Yeah I know – caller ID an' all-"

Jackie cut him off, "I'm with Rose an' the Doctor in Cardiff! But 'e's been shot an' 'e's got two 'earts an' they'll dissect 'im an' 'e needs to go to the 'ospital but 'e can't 'cause they'll chop 'im up an' use 'is blood or somethin' an' oh I don't know! An' 'e's bleedin' everywhere an' it's red, but 'e's an alien and-"

"JACKIE!" Mickey bellowed into the phone, trying to sort through the deluge of information Jackie had just dumped on him, "Calm down! What's 'appened? Are you an' Rose alrigh'?"

Jackie took a deep breath and turned away from Rose and the Doctor. "We're both fine but the Doctor's not. 'e's bleedin' Mickey, an' it looks like 'e's been shot an' I don't know what to do! Wha' do I do, Mickey?!"

Sitting in his flat in back in London, dressed only in a t-shirt, his boxers and his socks, Mickey Smith stared blankly at his computer screen. The Doctor was injured and need help. And fast. Mickey was stuck in London, so he was out. Rose was with the Doctor, but wouldn't know what to do if he was really badly hurt, so no help there. He's an alien so he can't go to a hospital, not without being dissected; what Mickey really needed was someone who knew about aliens, could be trusted, had access to medical equipment, and was in Cardiff.

It was a long shot, but Mickey grabbed his 'Doctor' file from the shelf. After Rose had gone swanning off the first time, he'd done some research; read up on the Doctor. If you looked deep enough on the internet or in the history books – there he was; right next to a list of the dead. Mickey shook his head to clear it. This was no time for petty jealousy, if Mickey didn't think of something soon, the Doctor's name might finally make that list. He shuddered, the thought leaving him oddly cold. That couldn't, no… wouldn't happen, not on his watch. Mickey quickly scanned the tab labelled 'Contacts of the Doctor".

Tower of London. London, Ealing. Scotland? Central London. No one was near enough! Mickey was about to slam the folder shut in frustration when his finger slipped and ripped loose a sheet of paper.

"Torchwood 3?"

Scribbled at the top of the page, in his own hand-writing was exactly the word he was searching for: Cardiff. He scanned the paper, specifically the recorded heads of Torchwood 3. There! Just below _**1989-1999**__, Alex Hopkins_ was a surprisingly familiar name.

_**2000 – PRESENT**__, Cpt Jack Harkness_

Mickey's heart leapt. No way could that be anyone else! And if Jumping Jack Flash was in Cardiff…

"Jackie, just hold on. I'm getting help fo' you now."

"Oh god Mickey, hurry!" she squeaked, sounding terrified.

Mickey grabbed the house phone from its cradle by the computer, quickly dialing the Torchwood 3's number. It had been hell to find, but using the _buffalo_ override (seriously, what kind of password was that?!), he'd managed to hack the hotline number to the head of Torchwood 3. Mickey crossed his fingers and prayed that this would work…

"Captain Jack Harkness; whatever you're selling, we're not buying." The American drawl rang from the second phone and Mickey could almost hear the Captain's finger on the end call button.

"Jack! It's Mickey! Don't hang up!"

A pause. "Mickey?"

"Yeah, Jack thank god I-"

"Mickey the idiot?"

Mickey growled, "Enough of tha' Captain Cheesecake, we've got problems."

"Mickey Smith!" Jack sounded delighted "How the hell did you get this number? And that's Beefcake, mister! So much effort for a date Mr Mickey-Mick – don't I feel special!"

"We haven't got time for this! We've got a problem – the Doctor's in your neck of the woods, but-"

"WHAT?!" Jack abruptly cut him off "How is he? Where is he? Why didn't it-? That bastard! Ianto, Hub NOW!" There was the sound of screeching tyres and a, "Floor it, Ianto!" before Jack was back on the line. "Tell me everything you know Mickey Mouse." Jack said in a low, dangerous voice. "Tell me what the hell is going on."

"Hold on!" Mickey dropped the house phone and grabbed his mobile off the desk. "Jackie? Jackie, are you still there?"

"Oh Mickey, thank god! What do I do?"

"Jackie! Jackie, listen!" he interrupted before the blonde woman could start on another tirade "Help is on the way alright? Where are you?"

"Erm…" Jackie paused as she wildly glanced around, "Erm… by the TARDIS!" Jackie yelled, glad she'd found an identifiable landmark.

"Not helpful Jackie." Mickey muttered, trying to ignore Jack's increasingly loud demands from the other phone, "Anything else near you? Buildings or street names?"

"We're by water!"

Mickey fought the urge to bang his head against the desk. "What buildings are you near Jackie?"

"Oh I don't know…" moaned Jackie "The Millennium Centre I think…"

"PERFECT!" yelled Mickey, stretching to grab the other phone "Stay there Jackie and don't let anyone move him, okay? Help'll be there soon." He hung up on her and pulled the other phone to his ear.

"Cheesecake? You still there?"

"That's beefcake to you Mickey Mouse – where is he?"

"By the Millennium Centre; sounds like he's injured. Jackie thinks he's been shot. Rose is with him, but he's regenerated since you last saw him, alright?"

"The Millennium Centre?!" The glee in Jack's voice was almost tangible, "He's right by the hub! Mickey, don't worry, we're almost there. Step on it Ianto!"

The line disconnected as Jack hung up and Mickey sat back in his chair. Nothing more that he could do now. He let his head tip back to face the ceiling as he dropped the home phone back onto his desk. All he could do now… was wait.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**So it's all slowly pulling together :) have to admit, it was so fun writing the domestic Doctor scenes. I had far too much fun with it!**

**Less fun wrting Jackie's accent though, SO MANY SKIPPED LETTERS! It was surprisingly difficult to focus on the cockney accent – I'm from the North of England so it's fairly easy for me to write that (as in my HTTYD fics) but cockney? Urgh. So many re-writes!**

**Ah well, drop me a review and let me know what you thought – was my cockney convincing?**

**Love and Hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	4. Jack

**Hello again! So here we are with the last of the pre-written chappies, but there is good news: As with apparently all my best ideas, I had a large brainwave last week at one in the morning (as you do) and now have the rest of the story roughly hashed out! I'll admit, I was getting a little worried as today approached and I still had no idea what the rest of the story was going to be. Never mind – I'm typing up hopefully the rest of the chapters as I travel up north to see the rentals, so updates will continue as normal!**

**Anyway, enough of my rambles – thank you to everyone who has followed and/or favourited this story, it really means a lot. Please feel free to drop me a review and let me know what you think.**

**Enjoy!**

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Chapter 4 – Jack**

"Well that was a bloody waste of time." Moaned Owen Harper, moodily "So much for your '_sound tip off_' from PC Plod." He grimaced, waving his hands in a condescending manner, much to the annoyance of Gwen who was sat next to him. "UFO in the sky, _she says_, residents are panicking, _she says_, refractive light weapons, _she says_." He turned his head to glare at the welsh woman. "It was a bloody weather balloon!"

"Oh put ah sock in it Owen." Gwen griped, attempting to swat the medical officer on the arm. "It was an honest mistake to make."

"Yeah, 'cause a weather balloon looks _exactly _like an alien space craft." He drawled back, dodging her attack. "Especially during the day."

"Play nicely, kiddies." Interrupted Jack from the front passenger seat. A wicked smirk crossing his chiselled features, "Or if you'd rather be cleaning the Weevil cells tonight…" He turned to the man driving the car, "Ianto, I need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels; How long til we're back at base?"

Ianto Jones smiled mildly as he checked the small device attached to the dashboard "No more than fifteen minutes sir. Tosh's satellite feed says there's only light traffic ahead."

Jack grinned roguishly "Any chance of bending the speed limits a bit, Ianto? The less time with these clowns the happier I'll be."

The Welshman shook his head fondly and continued driving at the same, even pace. Jack mock sighed and settled back into his seat, "If they don't make it back to base in one piece, then I want it on record it's not my fault."

A comfortable silence settled over the Torchwood team. In the back of the black range rover Gwen and Owen continued to glare at each other. The flickering lights of the surrounding tech highlighting furrowed brows and tight lips. Jack idly watched the traffic drive by through the windscreen, his thoughts lazy and content. Ianto kept his eyes on the road, although allowing them to occasionally sweep the relaxed form of his friend and sometimes lover Jack.

The brief silence, however, was suddenly interrupted by a shrilly ringing mobile. "The hell..?" mumbled Jack, pulling his personal mobile out of his coat pocket, eyebrows rising in surprise. He frowned reading the small LED screen. The caller ID was withheld. "Funny Owen," Jack rolled his eyes. "Playing this game now?"

Owen held up his own phone, dark and switched off. "Not me, boss. Ran out of battery twenty minutes ago." He grinned, "Can't blame me for this one."

"Tosh?" Jack asked, lightly touching the comm in his ear. "This you?"

There was a slight burst of static and then, "Not me, Jack" Toshiko's voice came through the comm. "But I'm tracing it now, just give me a few seconds." Jack could hear her fingers clicking quickly against the keyboard as she typed. "It's a land line." She said after a pause, "London… central London."

At which point, Jack decided to answer.

"Captain Jack Harkness; whatever you're selling, we're not buying." The American drawled and was about to hit the end call button when –

"Jack! It's Mickey! Don't hang up!"

Dumbfounded, Jack stared out of the windscreen. Now there was a voice he hadn't expected to hear. "Mickey?" he asked, brain whirling. As in, Rose's Mickey? Mickey the Idiot, Mickey? How the hell he'd gotten this number? And, more importantly, why the hell was he calling?

"Yeah, Jack thank god I-"

"Mickey the Idiot?" Jack interrupted, a grin starting to bloom on his face, surely it couldn't be...

"Who's that?" whispered Gwen in the back seat

"Buggered if I know." Owen replied, "Never heard of him!"

Jack barely contained a delighted laugh as Mickey growled down the phone, "Enough of tha' Captain Cheesecake, we've got problems."

It _was_ him!

"Mickey Smith!" Jack sounded delighted "How the hell did you get this number? And that's Beefcake, mister! So much effort for a date Mr Mickey-Mick – don't I feel special!" Jack missed the put upon expression that briefly crossed Ianto's face as the Welshman sighed.

"We haven't got time for this!" Mickey yelled, "We've got a problem – the Doctor's in your neck of the woods, but-"

"WHAT?!" Jack yelped abruptly, cutting him off; his flirtatious tone and calm composure vanishing. "How is he? Where is he?" the American demanded, rapidly firing questions at the younger man. If the Doctor, and not just any Doctor: a Doctor who knew Mickey Smith, was in Cardiff then why… Jack quickly glanced to the heavy backpack that was securely strapped in the foot well of the passenger side. "Why didn't it-?" he cut himself off. He could deal with why his Doctor detector hadn't alerted him later. It didn't matter now, what did matter was that the Doctor was back in Cardiff. "That bastard!" he swore, "Ianto, Hub, NOW!" Jack barked angrily, cobbled-together, half-finished plans swirling in his head. He could put a temporal block down over the city – although it would be a nightmare to explain after last time. Maybe he could have Tosh location spike the TARDIS? Although that probably wouldn't work either with the TARDIS' strong defences. Open the rift to lock her in place again? Although that had been a near disaster when Blon had tried that. Maybe not.

There was the sound of screeching tyres as the Welshman wrenched the steering wheel sideways and stepped on the accelerator. "Floor it, Ianto!" Jack barked again before turning his attention back onto the phone call. "Tell me everything you know Mickey Mouse." Jack said in a low, dangerous voice. "Tell me what the hell is going on."

"Hold on!" Mickey interrupted and then there was a crash. Jack swore as it sounded like Mickey dropped the phone onto a desk. The American could just hear Mickey's half of the conversation to another line. "Jackie? Jackie, are you still there?" Jackie? Jack racked his brain to try and match who the hell Jackie was. She must be linked to Rose somehow. He was sure he'd heard the name before.

"Mickey!" he called down the phone, trying to get the other man's attention. "God damn it Mickey, what the hell is going on?" he muttered, listening hard to the other end of the line.

"Jackie! Jackie, listen!" Mickey sounded strained, "Help is on the way alright? Where are you?" So she was with the Doctor then. A friend of Rose's? A new companion maybe?

"Mickey! What the Hell is going on?!" Jack thundered, frustration making him irritable. Gwen and Owen winced in the back seat. Jack failed to notice as he seethed. God damn it he needed answers if he was going to be any use – and what did Mickey mean by they had a problem? What possible kind of threat could there be if the Doctor needed back up to deal with it?

Mickey muttered something, but Jack couldn't quite hear what he was saying. "Fuck's sake Mickey, what the bloody hell is going on?!"

"Anything else near you? Buildings or street names?"

Jack stopped yelling, ear pressed desperately against the phone. "What buildings are you near Jackie?" Mickey asked again. There was a pause and then, "PERFECT!" yelled Mickey. Then a scraping sound as he picked up the other phone still connected to Jack. "Stay there Jackie and don't let anyone move him, okay? Help'll be there soon." There was a slight beep as Mickey hung up on her and pulled the other phone to his ear.

"Cheesecake? You still there?"

Jack almost swore with relief, "That's beefcake to you Mickey Mouse" he laughed, but then quickly sobered "Where is he?"

"By the Millennium Centre; sounds like he's injured. Jackie thinks he's been shot. Rose is with him, but he's regenerated since you last saw him, alright?"

"The Millennium Centre?!" The glee in Jack's voice was almost tangible; they were headed in the right direction at least. "He's right by the Hub!" he grinned to a confused Ianto.

"Who is sir?" asked Ianto but Jack waved him off.

"Mickey, don't worry, we're almost there." Jack pulled the phone away from his ear "Step on it Ianto!" he grinned, hanging up the phone. Ianto nodded bemused at the sudden shift in their leader's mood, but said nothing as he carefully flipped on the Torchwood sirens and sped toward the hub.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Jack's mind was whirling furiously. The Doctor was here, in Cardiff! And – if what Mickey the Idiot said was right, then his timeline would finally mesh with Jack's! The Doctor might have regenerated, but if he was still with…

Jack's mind suddenly ground to a screeching halt. Rosie. His partner in crime against the Doctor, his little sister in all but blood. Did she even know he was still alive? Did she know what happened to him at the Game Station? Did she know-? He shook his head. It didn't matter now. They could sort through that later; but right now the Doctor and Rose needed him.

"Owen, you need to tell Tosh what equipment you need to fix a bullet wound and get her ready to mobilise it as soon as we get back." Owen nodded, for once not making a snarky response as he quickly fed Tosh the information for the tools he might need. The manic look in Jack's eye told him not to push this. "Ianto, how long 'til our ETA?"

The Welshman glanced down to the device on the dashboard, "Three minutes sir." He said, stepping more firmly on the accelerator and sweeping effortlessly around the other road users, "We're just the other side."

Jack nodded. "Tosh, are you in position?"

"Almost." Came the reply, "I'm just loading it to the lift now."

"Good." He closed the comms link and took a deep breath, trying to settle his racing nerves.

"Jack?" Gwen asked timidly from the back seat. "What's going on?"

To her surprise, a slow smile spread across his face. "I've found the right kind of Doctor."

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Just short of three minutes later, the dark SUV roared across the Roald Dahl Plass; skidding to a halt just by the invisible lift that held the entrance to Torchwood 3. The team quickly bailed out, with Owen dashing to the hidden lift to retrieve the medical supplies.

"Where the hell is he?" Jack muttered as he scanned the area, his coat gently tapping against his ankles in the light breeze.

"Sir!" Ianto called, pointing to a suspicious looking mark on the ground close to the Millennium Centre.

"Gwen, Ianto – go check that out." Jack grinned, his eyes locked on a small blue box standing not 200m from where he stood. "Get a clean-up crew in if you have to. Looks like I've got an appointment with the Doctor." And without looking back the Captain sprinted away towards the TARDIS.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Urgh this one was a toughie to write! It's been years since I've watched Torchwood – I'm re-watching all the New Who / Torchwood episodes with my boyfriend (poor heathen hadn't watched them *sigh* he will shown the Doctor Who light) but we're only up to the start of Tennant. Well I think it got them down… drop me a review and let me know what you think!**

**Love and Hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	5. Flight

**"**_**I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by**_**." - Douglas Adams**

"**I'm sorry but I can't take your call right now; If that's Random House, I've had a succession of computer issues and an illness, it's going really well and I'll be mailing some chapters at the week." – David Tennant, The Decoy Bride**

**Argh! So much grovelling is required considering this chapter is a week late! First of all, I'm really sorry to make you wait – but it's been a hell of a week, my boss has put me on every day at work and when I've got in I've just crashed!**

**Secondly, I am spending today and tomorrow working on YGLABN, so there shouldn't be any more delay in the posting schedule (so only a week to wait until the next instalment! Yay!)**

**So once again, apologies for the delay – without further ado… the next chapter!**

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Chapter 5 – Flight**

"Where the hell is he?" Jack muttered as he scanned the area, his coat gently tapping against his ankles in the light breeze.

"Sir!" Ianto called, pointing to a suspicious looking mark on the ground close to the Millennium Centre.

"Gwen, Ianto – go check that out." Jack grinned, his eyes locked on a small blue box standing not 200m from where he stood. "Get a clean-up crew in if you have to. Looks like I've got an appointment with the Doctor." And without looking back the Captain sprinted away towards the TARDIS.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Jack stopped just in front of the TARDIS exterior doors, almost unable to comprehend that she was there in front of him. She was here, in Cardiff. And if she was here… so was he. Smiling softly, Jack pulled out his TARDIS key from where it lay, carefully hidden within a secret pocket of his broken vortex manipulator. He had carried his key ever since he had been separated from the Doctor and Rose. Despite the many deaths, kidnappings, thefts and searches he'd sustained since satellite 5, he'd managed to get his key back each time; his little piece of home.

The key slid smoothly into the Yale lock and Jack paused, taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of home the action gave him.

But it was as Jack attempted to turn the key that things quickly turned pear shaped. A strong current, almost like a static shock, shot through Jack. Waves of pain curled through his system and his hand clenched tightly around the key. The current quickly immobilised him, locking him in place against the TARDIS doors as they shook violently.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

"Wot the bleedin' 'ell wa' tha'?!" yelped Jackie as the entire room lurched to the side, knocking her from her seat beside the Doctor's bed. As she struggled to her feet the TARDIS gave another great jolt, sending medical instruments flying as the walls flashed an ominous mauve.

Rose didn't reply. She had quickly braced herself against the Doctor's stasis chamber as the first tremor hit but was now staring in dumbfounded shock as the Timelord's eyes popped open. But instead of his usual warm chocolate, they blazed an eerie gold. He stared blankly ahead as wisps of golden dust curled soothingly around his head. Rose braced herself against his bed as her knees gave way. She knew that that light. It looked like… no! But he couldn't be! They had gotten him into the stasis chamber in time! He wasn't-

There was a third great lurch which felt to the two humans on board as if the TARDIS had tried to roll on the spot. Jackie stood, rubbing her arm from where it had collided with one of the tables. "Wot the bleedin' 'ell wa' tha' all abou'?" she grimaced before freezing and listening carefully. Barely noticeable, but getting louder, was the distinct sound of-

"Bu' 'ow?! 'e's 'ere! 'ow's it doin' tha'?!"

The time rotor was moving.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Outside the TARDIS, Gwen and Ianto had finally managed to catch up to Jack who was standing still, one hand on the exterior doors.

"Jack?" asked Gwen hesitantly, "What is that thing?"

Jack said nothing, still rooted to the spot by the blue, wooden doors. Ianto quickly glanced up from his handheld device he had been tapping away on. "It's a police call box." He said quickly to Gwen's unanswered question. "You should know this Gwen; they were mainly in use during the 1950s. A convenient temporary holding cell for low level criminals or somewhere which the general public could call for help from – this was before mobiles were available of course."

Gwen shook her head briefly, "I meant, what is it doing here? In Cardiff?" she turned to look in askance at the well-dressed Welshman next to her, "It's not exactly the bleedin' 1950s is it now?"

Ianto shrugged apologetically, as baffled as she was. "If I had to guess," he suggested, slipping the electronic device back into his suit pocket, "I'd say it was something to do with this mysterious Doctor of yours, right Jack?"

There was a pause as Jack did not reply.

"Sir?"

But still Jack ignored them, standing frozen with his hand raised to the TARDIS doors.

"Jack?" asked Gwen, reaching forward to touch his arm, "Are you al-?"

"No!"

Gwen sharply pulled her hand back in surprise.

"No." Jack repeated through clenched teeth, and for the first time there was visible strain in the handsome American's features. "Don't… you can't… touch…"

"Jack? What's going on?" Gwen looked between Ianto and Jack nervously. "What do we do?"

"It's… the ah! TARDIS." Groaned Jack, his teeth still clenched from the shockwaves of pain shooting through his system; had he not as, well… hearty, as he was, he doubted he would have still been standing. "She's… ah!" he gasped in pain again, "She feels… threatened. Don't… you can't touch… me. She's fighting back."

"With respect, sir," Ianto stepped forwards, carefully. "It's a box." He coughed delicately, "A wooden box. The scanner's confirmed it."

"She's not." Grimaced Jack from his painful position against the TARDIS defences. "She's-"

But whatever Jack was planning to say was cut off as the TARDIS began to tremble violently, almost seeming to rock backwards and forwards as sound of the universe sang and she began to fade from their sight.

"Jack!"

Gwen and Ianto lurched forwards, just as Jack disappeared.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Clinging tightly to the guardrail inside the console room, Jackie stared dumbfounded at the pulsing time rotor. The room spun, and floor quickly became ceiling as the TARDIS lurched, pitching and rolling through the time vortex. Sparks flew in great showering cascades from the main console, great bangs erupting and echoing around the shaking room.

Jackie was terrified.

She had left the infirmary after the lurching had first started; after she had thought she heard the wheezing, groaning sound that the TARDIS made whenever it took off. Hoping to see why the semi-sentient machine had suddenly decided to throw them around like socks in a dryer, Jackie had retraced her steps back to the console room looking for answers. But upon her arrival, to her utter amazement and disbelief, the time rotor had started to move all on its own.

"Bu' 'ow?!" she had screeched, stepping backwards in shock, "'e's not 'ere! 'e's in tha' tan' thing! 'ow 're you doin' tha'?!"

She had run forwards to the main console and had fruitlessly jabbed at some of the more obvious buttons on the console. "'e's not 'ere!" she repeated, completely lost as to how the TARDIS had managed to start herself up. "'e's in tha' 'ospital thing! 'ow 're you doin' tha'?!"

The TARDIS lurched again, sending Jackie careering towards the nearby guardrail. She grabbed it quickly, nearly knocking her already bruised arm. "Now you stop it!" ordered Jackie, clinging on to the railing for dear life as the room began to tip and roll, "'e's not 'ere to fly you so jus'… stop!"

The TARDIS did not answer. Instead she plunged and railed faster as she bucked and raced through the vortex. A screen spun on its axis towards Jackie and she watched in disbelief as a number counter grew higher and higher.

"'ang on. AD?" The room lurched violently again. "Is tha' in… years?" she squeaked, clinging tighter. "Are we goin' into the future?" She stared horror stuck as the counter ticked up faster. "The year one billion?" she read, but quickly the figure changed "Five billion. Five trillion. Fifty trillion?" At this point, Jackie wasn't entirely sure if these were actual numbers, but she had more pressing concerns to deal with. "Wha'? The year one hundred trillion? Tha's impossible!"

Jackie grimaced, clutching her lifeline tighter. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't; what did she know? She wished the Doctor was there. First to explain what the bleedin' 'ell was going on, and then to get this time ship of his back under control! The room continued to spin and roll wildly around her and Jackie felt her palms become slick with sweat. Desperately, she wrapped her arms tighter around the guard rail and pulled her legs as close to her as she could to secure herself. She could almost feel the TARDIS' panic as a tangible force within the unstable room and it fed into her own. Jackie closed her eyes with a whimper and prayed to anyone who would listen that it would end soon, that this nightmare would stop.

It was just as Jackie was beginning to think the hellish ride would never end, there was a resounding crash. The floor righted itself beneath her feet, and the room fell silent.

Wherever it was, they had arrived.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Well, we're now on the linear timeline! Although there might still be a few time skips dotted here and there…**

**Again, apologies for the delay, but I'm working on the new chapters today and tomorrow so should have the next few lined up to satisfy your hunger!**

**Thanks to everyone who has added YGLABN as a favourite and/or it following it – please feel free to drop me a review and let me know what you think of it so far (tips about my writing style would be especially helpful – am I getting everyone's characters right?)**

**Also side note: Who else thought deep breath was incredible?! Although this made me giggle and is best summed up by a friend of mine: **Too much lesbians = bring back Russell T Davies? That face palm's gonna give me a headache for days. .uk / arts-entertainment/tv/news/doctor-who-lesbian-kiss-sparks-ofcom-complaints-over-weird-lesbianlizard-perv-trip-9691238 {DOT} html

**Love and Hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	6. Arrival

**Another week, another chapter! And it's a big one to make up for the delay last time (2,346!) So without further ado, here's chapter 6.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 6 – Arrival**

It was just as Jackie was beginning to think the hellish ride would never end, there was a resounding crash. The floor righted itself beneath her feet, and the room fell silent.

Wherever it was, they had arrived.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Jackie's footsteps echoed loudly on the grating as she scrambled to her feet. She still clung tightly to the guardrail, sending a suspicious glare towards the TARDIS console.

"Y' finished then?" she asked, warily standing straighter. "Not gonna knock me off me feet again?"

The TARDIS didn't answer, sitting silent and lightly smoking. Jackie wrapped her arms around her chest and hugged herself tightly. The dull silence after the loud journey was fairly creepy; and the occasional _hiss_ of a steam vent was doing nothing for her nerves.

Still. She was a Prentice woman. Bravado was her middle name; well actually it was Angela Suzette, no matter what Pete might have said on their wedding day.

"_I, Peter Alan Tyler, take you, Jacqueline Suzanne Suzette Anita…_"

Honestly, that man! But that was beside the point. Jackie glanced up towards the TARDIS room with a look of mild irritation.

"If we've ended up on Mars, I'm going to kill you."

The TARDIS exterior doors creaked open in response.

"Is it safe?"

A green light flickered tiredly on the dashboard of the main console. Jackie glanced nervously towards the exterior doors, suddenly reminded of the grilling she gave the Doctor in Downing Street.

"_I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor; And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?"_

But he had kept her safe. He and this machine of his had brought her daughter home safe every time.

"_Is she safe?_"

Jackie took a tentative step towards the open doors.

"_Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that?_"

She paused in the doorway, looking out onto a dark, rocky landscape.

"_Ah but trouble's just the bits in-between! It's all waiting out there, Jackie, and it's brand new to me. All those planets, and creatures and horizons. I haven't seen them yet! Not with these eyes. And it is going to be fantastic."_

Rose believed in him. Rose believed in this machine. They had brought her home safe each time.

"_But it's not safe, Rose."_

"_Mum, if you saw it out there you'd never stay home._"

It could only a few steps outside, just see what they meant. And Rose would be safe in the TARDIS for a little while. She had the Doctor with her (sort of) and the TARDIS could protect her (she hoped). Just for a minute. A small smile tugged the corner of her mouth.

"I'm jus' 'eading out then!" Jackie called out to the silent TARDIS. "One small ste' for me an' all tha'." She grinned as her foot touched down lightly onto the alien world. Lifting her foot again Jackie's grin widened as she looked at the print she'd made. In the year one hundred trillion, Jackie Tyler of 2007 had made her mark.

With her body practically tingling with excitement, Jackie Tyler stepped out of the safety of the TARDIS, and set out alone into the year one hundred trillion. The desolate landscape was, in its own way, breathtakingly beautiful. Jackie gaped at the vastness of it. Just of the ridge which the TARDIS stood on, she could see what she could only describe as a giant beehive carved into the rock face. Only, it wasn't a beehive, it was more like a city. Jackie could just make out where roads and what she could only describe as houses were cut into the stone. She spun on the spot trying to take it all in. No wonder Rose wanted to keep traveling, she thought. If this is what it was like to step out of the TARDIS each time (although Jackie supposed she would normally have had a chattering tour guide telling her exactly _what_ she was looking at) Jackie could understand why. Maybe trouble _was_ just the bits in between. Maybe the Doctor was-

Jackie tripped over something and landed ungracefully on her rear. She had been stepping backwards, looking around in amazement when her trainer caught on some sort of squishy rock by the side of the TARDIS and she had, quite inelegantly, fallen over it. Jackie turned her head to see what she had fallen over when she caught sight of the sky above her. She hadn't thought to look above her head when she stepped out of the TARDIS, but now from her prone position she couldn't do anything but. It was blank. Complete unending night. Jackie couldn't see a single star in the sky, only blackness that almost seemed to suck and pull at her from where she lay. It almost made her dizzy, that emptiness. It was like she had suddenly gone blind. There were no clouds that she could see, or anything that looked like it might be covering the night sky… just emptiness. Jackie suddenly felt very small.

Shaken by the feeling of emptiness, Jackie turned her head to where she knew the TARDIS would be, suddenly needing the reassurance of the odd little blue box. It was as she turned her head that her eyes caught the soft, squishy material that she had fallen over.

And she screamed.

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"Wot the bleedin' 'ell wa' tha'?!" yelped Jackie as the entire room lurched to the side, knocking her from her seat beside the Doctor's bed. As she struggled to her feet the TARDIS gave another great jolt, sending medical instruments flying as the walls flashed an ominous mauve.

Rose didn't reply. She had quickly braced herself against the Doctor's stasis chamber as the first tremor hit but was now staring in dumbfounded shock as the Time Lord's eyes popped open. But instead of his usual warm chocolate, they blazed an eerie gold. He stared blankly ahead as wisps of golden dust curled soothingly around his head. Rose braced herself against his bed as her knees gave way. She knew that that light. It looked like… no! But he couldn't be! They had gotten him into the stasis chamber in time! He wasn't-

There was a third great lurch which felt to the two humans on board as if the TARDIS had tried to roll on the spot. Jackie stood, rubbing her arm from where it had collided with one of the tables. "Wot the bleedin' 'ell wa' tha' all abou'?" She grimaced before freezing and listening carefully. Barely noticeable, but getting louder, was the distinct sound of the time rotor initiating the dematerialisation circuits. Rose barely looked up as Jackie fled the room; instead, her attention was solely on the Doctor. He couldn't do this to her again! They had gotten him into the stasis chamber in time hadn't they? He couldn't be regenerating!

The Doctor cringed and twisted within the stasis pod. His face contorted in pain and panic.

"Off…" He muttered, hands fisting at his sides. "Get it off…" The TARDIS rolled again. "Get…away." The TARDIS lurched again, seeming to pick up speed.

Rose held on tightly as the TARDIS began to buck and roll through the time vortex. "Doctor?" she gasped, trying to battle both the spinning floor and the feeling of panic that didn't quite seem to be her own. "Doctor, can you hear me?" She grunted as the TARDIS heaved and painfully slammed her against the pod again.

"Ro…Rose?"

"Doctor!"

The Doctor's eyes were still glowing as he turned to face her. His face still twisted in pain.

"Bad Wolf." He said before sagging back on to the bed. Rose's headache flared as her own eyes became lightly tinted with gold.

"Why is she running?" asked Rose through gritted teeth as the TARDIS whirled again, "What's scared her this much?"

The Doctor slammed a fist against the inside of the stasis pod causing the lid to retract. "Something…something" He gasped in pain, sitting up on the bed. "Something that shouldn't be. A… argh! An anomaly, in time." He doubled over in pain and Rose reached up to steady him, still battling her-not-quite-own panic.

"What do we do?"

The Doctor grinned; an odd expression that was still twisted with pain. "We wait. We let her run."

And so the panicked flee through the time stream continued, the TARDIS ripped through the vortex. In the medical bay, Rose and the Doctor (who, despite the continued glowing eyes, was becoming more Doctor-like) held on. It was just as Rose was beginning to think the panicked ride would never end, there was a resounding crash. The floor righted itself beneath her feet, and the room fell silent.

Wherever it was, they had arrived.

"Well." Said the Doctor, eyes losing their golden lustre and dimming to their usual chocolate. "We've landed." He hopped off from the bed and Rose caught his elbow as he stumbled.

"You alrigh' there, Doctor?" asked Rose, her own eyes dimming back to their usual shade. "You should be in bed! You were shot!"

The Doctor grinned, standing straight and rolling his shoulders. "Nah! Nothing to worry about with that little thing!"

Rose gaped at him.

"You were shot! How is that a little thing?!"

"Ah." The Doctor's eyes widened. "Well… yes. I forgot about that." He tugged at his ear. "Well, it's all sorted now!" He grinned, shrugging his suit jacket on before noticing the heavy bloody stains that darkened the front chest panel. He took it off again. He looked at where his jacket had been tossed by the TARDIS and sighed unhappily. "Oh, my coat! I love that coat! Janis Jopin gave me that coat!"

"Doctor!" interrupted Rose, annoyed. "What do y' mean '_Well, it's all sorted now'_?" she folded her arms across her chest and glared at the suddenly sheepish Time Lord.

"Ah… well, about that." He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, I just needed to slip in to a quick healing coma and problem solved! It was only a little bullet really so…" He trailed off at the unimpressed look on Rose's face. "Ah… sorry?"

Rose huffed and shook her head. "So you're all fixed now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I was worried for nuthin?"

"Ah well… not exactly nothing!" He grinned again, opening up a spare cupboard that Rose hadn't noticed before. Inside was a row of identical brown, pin-striped suits. "I would have been in serious trouble if you hadn't gotten me in to the stasis chamber as quick as you did." He smiled at Rose fondly. "Clever girl."

Rose tried not to smile at the praise.

"Was that a smile?"

Rose scowled at him. "No."

The Doctor grinned, knowingly. "That was a smile..."

"No it wasn't."

"You smiled..." he teased.

Her scowl deepened. "No I didn't."

The Doctor pouted. "Oh, come on, all I did was heal a teeny bullet wound! It's not like I brought you're mother to the end of the universe."

"You know she's still on board?"

"Ah."

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

Once again outfitted in his beloved pin-stripes, the Doctor and Rose left the infirmary and headed towards the console room. The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and amicably swung it as they walked along.

"So where is that mother of yours then?" asked the Doctor, glancing around somewhat nervously. "She's not going to ambush me around the next corner is she?"

Rose giggled. "'ow should I know?" She asked. "I've been with you 'aven't I? She's probably gone to make a cuppa though."

The Doctor cringed slightly. "Urgh, you're mother on my TARDIS. Talk about domestic."

Rose walloped him on the arm as they strode into the console room. Dropping her hand, the Doctor bounced over to one of the monitors attached below the time rotor.

"So when are we then?" asked Rose, stepping up to the Doctor's side. He absent-mindedly took her hand again as he pulled out a pair of brainy specs.

"Ah."

He sat back onto the jump seat, pulling Rose with him.

"Well?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "The year one hundred trillion."

Rose glanced towards the door, excitement sparkling in her eyes. "So what's out there?"

The Doctor lowered his hand and removed his glasses. "I don't know." He said.

Rose gaped at him in amazement, a light smile teasing around the corner of her mouth. "Say that again. That's rare."

He smiled half-heartedly. "Not even the Time Lords came this far. We should leave. We should go. We should really, really go."

"Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always stay inside and go somewhere else."

They turned to face each other. Rose's mouth twitched. The Doctor's eyebrow raised. Rose spluttered against her mirth and they lost control on their laughter.

"Should we go investigate then Lewis?" the Doctor asked, offering Rose his arm in a gentlemanly way.

Rose grinned. "An excellent idea, Sarge." She replied, taking the offered appendage. "Maybe we should go an' tell my mum first though?"

The Doctor shrugged carelessly. "Weeell… we could." He grinned a devilish smile. "_Or_ we could go outside, have a bit of a poke around, you know, check it's safe, and _then_ we could go find your mother."

Rose's grin matched the Doctor's. "The old team?"

"That's more like it!" he cheered, pulling her towards the doors. "Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake."

"Which one's Shiver?" asked Rose, mildly concerned that the Doctor was, in his own clever way, calling her an elephant.

"Oh," he grinned, eyebrows waggling. "I'm Shake."

Rose was tempted to give him another wallop on the arm when a scream came from outside. The grin fell from Rose's face. She knew that scream.

"That's my mum!"

Without another word, the pair of them dashed out of the TARDIS doors and into the endless night.

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Whoop! Another chapter done (and on time this week!) granted I wrote it all today but still – it's a biggie 2,346 give or take a few YGLABNs.**

**I wanted to spend a bit more time on what it would feel like for Jackie to first step out of the TARDIS – especially without the Doctor there to tell her what was happening. And while I'm 99% certain all of you know EXACTLY where they are, I wanted to really capture the feeling of mystery that would come from this kind of experience. And yes – the parallels to Rose were completely intentional! Like mother like daughter eh?**

**Tbh with you I'm a bit stuck on the next chapter – I don't really want to write a direct lift of Utopia but I've kind of written myself into a corner. I have two ideas in my head at the moment but I can't quite decide; So let me know what you think:**

**Do you want to see the Master or not?**

**Drop me a review and let me know!**

**Love and Hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	7. Utopia

**This chapter is dedicated to **_Verity359_** and **_Aaallllllooonnsssyyy _**for your helpful input; I've tried to involve both your ideas. Thanks guys!**

**I know, I know. This chappie is basically just a re-tread :( BUT it'll split back away from the cannon in the next chapter :) so yay for that! More notes at the bottom, for now…**

**Enjoy!**

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Chapter 7 – Utopia**

A large fire crackled in the centre of the ring, the only source of light for miles stood out starkly from the inky blackness. Hunched around the beacon sat a large, tattooed tribe. Their hair, long and mostly matted, waved gently as the wind changed direction and blew through the camp. As one, the tribe raised their heads and sniffed the air; their feral eyes widened and their pointed teeth bared.

"Humans." A voice growled, the word barely distinguishable from the guttural growl. "Humans are coming."

The Chieftain, holding court beside the bonfire, stood taller; the firelight catching the metal piercings on his eyebrows and nose and making them shine. He tipped back his head and roared triumphantly as the tribe rose to a crouch around him, snarling and snapping at each other. Meat. Food. There was precious little of either at the end of the universe, and a human traveling alone?

Dinner time.

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Padra's breath forced its way out of his lungs in harsh pants. His legs ached, his chest burned and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled and bristled at the feeling of being hunted.

He ran.

He had been running for what felt like hours, days even weeks. His family had left before him; taken one of the final Axiom shuttles from New Sol 3 to this God forsaken rock, the final stop before Utopia. There hadn't been enough room on the shuttle, his papers had been delayed, women and children first; a bureaucracy nightmare of red tape and _for the greater good,_ Padra had been separated from his family. Forced to steal any sort of space travel ship he could get his hands on, Padra had fled across the black space following the trail of the Axiom shuttle in a rickety old Star Ship 2 that had barely made the outer atmosphere.

The Axiom had quickly outstripped him and his stolen ship and Padra was left to fly blind into the void of space, relying on nothing more than a hope and a prayer to get him to Utopia. After what felt like weeks alone in the empty void, Fortune had seemed to smile on him as a passing asteroid belt had steered him back onto the correct course and delivered him onto the Malcassairo planet's surface.

Of course, delivered may be too kind a term. Thrown burning, smoking with the hull crushed beyond repair and crashing in an uncontrollable tailspin to the planet's surface by the passing asteroids may have been more accurate. But, somehow, he had survived. Bruised, a bit battered and shaken, but Padra had remained in one piece. It was as he was climbing out of the smouldering wreckage that Padra had immediately sensed the wolves at his door. The Future Kind had seemed little more than an urban legend from the safety of New Sol 3; a silly tale to scare small children. Nonsense, of course, but good for the blood. But crouched in the twisted wreckage of the old Star Ship, Padra understood how terrifying the idea of the Future Kind could be.

So he ran. Ran from the horror of what they could be. Ran in the direction of the lights; to civilisation, to safety, to the Silo. "The Silo." He gasped to himself as he ran from the phantom baying of the Future Kind. "If I get to the silo, then I'm safe."

The rocky underbrush made it difficult to run. Pebbles skittered out from underneath his boots and sprayed across the path, tapping loudly against each other. He was filthy and he was tired and the sweat was pouring down his face and into his eyes making it harder to see in the dim light. The pricking on his neck grew sharper as he ran. It was almost too quiet apart from his own harsh panting and the skittering of stones. How long until he ran face to face with the Future Kind?

Padra leapt across a bank of pointed rocks, quickly changing direction. He could still vaguely see where the Silo stood across the surface. It was a safe sanctuary for all those heading to Utopia, if only he could get there.

He slowed, head whipping around to scan the area for the Future Kind. If he could just rest, just for a minute. He'd been running so long…

The underbrush rustled and an animalistic roar accompanied a female Future Kind bursting out into Padra's path. She bared her teeth at the shaking Padra, a spiked swinging mace clenched in her hand. Padra raised his hands in a defensive gesture, taking note of her wild hair, pointed teeth and ripped, leather-like clothes.

"Please!" He begged, trembling with primal fear. "I don't. I just want to go. Please, let me go."

His words fell on deaf ears as she turned and called back to another Future Kind lookout standing high on a ridge.

"Human!" She bayed, the call long and loud. Padra flinched, following her eyes to the tall, male, muscle bound sentry. There could no escape from the Future Kind's notice now.

The male Future Kind on the ridge took up the call. "Human!" He bellowed, waving his flaming torch as a signal.

Padra tore his eyes away from the pair and took off running as fast as he could. Away from the Future Kind, towards the Silo. They would be hunting for him now. His only hope was to get enough of a head start on the Future Kind before the rest of the pack joined the hunt.

"Human!" The female gave up the call again. It echoed through the night and charged Padra's adrenaline. The chilling cry turned his blood to ice and burnt deep in his chest. The panic gripped him as he fled and fuelled his speed, the desperate dash of hunted prey.

"Human!" A male shout this time and different from before. More were coming. Drawn to the sound of the hunt.

And there on the breeze, quiet but growing louder, the chant that poured dread deep into Padra's soul.

"Hunt."

The rest of the tribe were worked up into a frenzy.

"Hunt!"

Roaring and bellowing, their cries barely distinguishable from growls and barking of wild dogs.

"HUNT!"

To Padra, it felt as if the very ground was shaking from the amount of their footfalls.

"**HUNT!**"

The rabid pack was descending. The chase was on.

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Inside his make shift and ramshackle laboratory, Professor Yana glanced up from his work as the surface scanner alarm sounded. Turning on the spot he examined the readout. A circular blip had appeared on the screen. A single green dot appearing on the corner of the scanner. Yana's eyebrows furrowed as he watched several more green dots appear on the screen. Approximately thirty in total, closely grouped together and in obvious pursuit of the first.

"There's movement on the surface." Yana sighed, gesturing towards the screen. His face hardened. "Another human hunt. God help him."

His assistant Chantho stood from her work attempting to fix a static-filled monitor. Her blue, insect-like face creased with concern. "Chan, should I alert the guards, tho?" She asked, stepping towards the intercom.

Yana sighed again, bustling towards a more homely area of his workshop. "No, no, we can't spare them." He said, heading towards the small kitchenette he had installed and looking longingly at the comfy, leather armchair. "Poor beggar's on his own." He turned to face Chantho and away from thoughts of rest. "One more lost soul dreaming of Utopia."

Chantho stepped away from the Comms tower and joined him in the kitchen. "Chan, you mustn't talk as if you've given up, tho." She admonished, wishing there was something more she could do to help.

The professor picked up his coffee mug. "No, no, indeed." He lifted his mug in salute. "Here's to it. Utopia."

Chantho smiled at him as he took a drink. He swallowed and his face twisted into a grimace, the coffee cup still held near his face. "Where it is to be hoped…" He continued, the taste of the foul coffee coating his tongue. "the coffee is a little less sour." He lowered the mug and gestured to the still warm pot on the end table. "Will you join me?" He asked Chantho.

She smiled apologetically. "Chan, I am happy drinking my own internal milk, tho."

He smiled awkwardly. "Yes, well." He swallowed, face dropping into a stern expression. "That's quite enough information, thank you."

Yana placed the mug down onto the table as the Speaker Comm crackled overhead. A man's voice replaced the static from a loudspeaker up in the rafters.

"Professor Yana? I don't want to rush you, but how are we doing?"

"Er, yes!" The professor replied, scrabbling for an answer. "Er, er, yes." He stuttered. "Working. Yes, almost there." He glanced up towards the speakers as he replied, uncomfortable.

"How's it looking on the footprint?" Asked the intercom.

Yana paused, trying to find the best way to answer. It wouldn't work. We're stuck here. I don't know what to do. "It's… good." He finally blustered. "Yes. Fine. Excellent."

He gestured frantically to Chantho to take over as they exchanged worried looks. Chantho stepped forward nervously. "Chan, there's no… problem as such." She started, her words hesitant as she tried to reassure the man on the Comm. "We've accelerated the calculation matrix but it's going to take time to harmonise, tho." She nodded to herself, hoping the technobabble would appease the waiting Captain. "Chan, we're trying a new reversal process. We'll have a definite result in approximately…" She paused again. How long could they delay? "two hours, tho."

After a quick thanks, the intercom clicked out and Chantho sighed with relief. She turned to address the professor but saw he was hunched forwards, holding his head and breathing heavily.

"Chan, Professor, tho?" she asked. He didn't reply. He didn't even hear her. The drumming in his head drowned everything out.

"Chan, Professor Yana, tho?"

The drumbeat. The loud, incessant noise that he'd heard far longer than he could remember. The rhythm of four, over and over again.

_One_-two-three-four. _One_-two-three-four. _One_-two-three-four.

Louder and louder, drowning out every other thought.

_**One**_**-two-three-four. **_**One**_**-two-three-four. **_**One**_**-two-three-four.**

His driving force, the reason he worked so hard. Never silent, always there. Every waking moment, drumming in his head; but at least it was quieter when he focused on something. The moment he rested however…

_**ONE**_**-TWO-THREE-FOUR. **_**ONE**_**-TWO-THREE-FOUR. **_**ONE**_**-TWO-THREE-FOUR.**

"Chan, Professor, tho!" Chantho's voice broke through the drums and Yana sat up in surprise.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes." He stuttered again, trying to regain his composure. "Working." He bustled quickly back to his previous work station, eager to refocus and to banish the drums back to a quiet corner of his mind. Chantho stood next to the surface scanner, eyes riveted to the screen.

"Chan, it's the surface scanner, Professor. It seems to be detecting up a different signal, tho."

Yana looked over her shoulder at the unusual reading. "Well, that's not a standard reading." He frowned. "I can't make it out."

Instead of the usual circular blip, the reading showed a square on the screen.

The professor took a step back, bemused. "It would seem something new has arrived."

**YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN YGLABN**

**Yes I know this one was just a re-tread, but I tried to explore a bit more of the background on each of the scenes. URGH this chapter was hard to write! Not just trying to match what we saw on screen, but trying not to indirectly copy from every other writer who has done a Utopia rewrite!**

**Very difficult.**

**I'm still having trouble wrestling the next chapter into shape – the next scene is of course the Jack/Doctor/Rose reunion. I obviously can't just lift from the episode because the Doctor's character is VERY different between the two seasons. Also DUH no Torchwood yet! (Doomsday at least) I'm setting this story arch just after **_Fear Her_**. So no angsty Doctor. Also more obviously, no Martha AND the addition of Jackie. Nightmare!**

**Ah well, I'll get it done by posting hehe.**

**As always, drop me a review and let me know what you think!**

**Love and Hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


	8. Hunted

**Hello again! Important things first: special thanks go to **_TrueBlueTardis14_**,**_ Myste-maus_** and **_Verity359_** for your great reviews! It really means a lot to see what my readers think!**

**Good God this chapter was a pain in the ass. First of all it didn't want to be written, and the secondly it went in the complete opposite direction of where I wanted it to go!**

**I'd planned to really jump ahead with the plot in this one to make up for the Utopia retread… and instead we get buckets of character development!**

***Sigh* those plot bunnies are tricksy devils but the character development ones have a bigger bite!**

**Hehe, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 8 – Hunted**

With her body practically tingling with excitement, Jackie Tyler stepped out of the safety of the TARDIS, and set out alone into the year one hundred trillion. The desolate landscape was, in its own way, breathtakingly beautiful. Jackie gaped at the vastness of it. Just of the ridge which the TARDIS stood on, she could see what she could only describe as a giant beehive carved into the rock face. Only, it wasn't a beehive, it was more like a city. Jackie could just make out where roads and what she could only describe as houses were cut into the stone. She spun on the spot trying to take it all in. No wonder Rose wanted to keep traveling, she thought. If this is what it was like to step out of the TARDIS each time (although Jackie supposed she would normally have had a chattering tour guide telling her exactly _what_ she was looking at) Jackie could understand why. Maybe trouble _was_ just the bits in between. Maybe the Doctor was-

Jackie tripped over something and landed ungracefully on her rear. She had been stepping backwards, looking around in amazement when her trainer caught on some sort of squishy rock by the side of the TARDIS and she had, quite inelegantly, fallen over it. Jackie turned her head to see what she had fallen over when she caught sight of the sky above her. She hadn't thought to look above her head when she stepped out of the TARDIS, but now from her prone position she couldn't do anything but. It was blank. Complete unending night. Jackie couldn't see a single star in the sky, only blackness that almost seemed to suck and pull at her from where she lay. It almost made her dizzy, that emptiness. It was like she had suddenly gone blind. There were no clouds that she could see, or anything that looked like it might be covering the night sky… just emptiness. Jackie suddenly felt very small.

Shaken by the feeling of emptiness, Jackie turned her head to where she knew the TARDIS would be, suddenly needing the reassurance of the odd little blue box. It was as she turned her head that her eyes caught the soft, squishy material that she had fallen over.

And she screamed.

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"So when are we then?" asked Rose, stepping up to the Doctor's side. He absent-mindedly took her hand again as he pulled out a pair of brainy specs.

"Ah."

He sat back onto the jump seat, pulling Rose with him.

"Well?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "The year one hundred trillion."

Rose glanced towards the door, excitement sparkling in her eyes. "So what's out there?"

The Doctor lowered his hand and removed his glasses. "I don't know." He said.

Rose gaped at him in amazement, a light smile teasing around the corner of her mouth. "Say that again. That's rare."

He smiled half-heartedly. "Not even the Time Lords came this far. We should leave. We should go. We should really, really go."

"Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always stay inside and go somewhere else."

They turned to face each other. Rose's mouth twitched. The Doctor's eyebrow raised. Rose spluttered against her mirth and they lost control on their laughter.

"Should we go investigate then Lewis?" the Doctor asked, offering Rose his arm in a gentlemanly way.

Rose grinned. "An excellent idea, Sarge." She replied, taking the offered appendage. "Maybe we should go an' tell my mum first though?"

The Doctor shrugged carelessly. "Weeell… we could." He grinned a devilish smile. "_Or_ we could go outside, have a bit of a poke around, you know, check it's safe, and _then_ we could go find your mother."

Rose's grin matched the Doctor's. "The old team?"

"That's more like it!" he cheered, pulling her towards the doors. "Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake."

"Which one's Shiver?" asked Rose, mildly concerned that the Doctor was, in his own clever way, calling her an elephant.

"Oh," he grinned, eyebrows waggling. "I'm Shake."

Rose was tempted to give him another wallop on the arm when a scream came from outside. The grin fell from Rose's face. She knew that scream.

"That's my mum!"

Without another word, the pair of them dashed out of the TARDIS doors and into the endless night.

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"Mum!"

Rose sprinted out of the TARDIS doors to where her mum lay shaking on the ground. "Mum! Wha' is it? Wha's wrong?" Rose wrapped her arms around her trembling mum, her back to the TARDIS and their unexpected guest.

The Doctor slowed to stand next to her. He caught sight of the dark blue greatcoat and slipped his hands deep into the pocket of his long trench coat, a sigh on his lips.

"Hello again." He muttered softly, looking uncomfortable. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Jackie was babbling semi-coherently in Rose's arms. "An there's this city…thing! Just over there! An' it's huge, an' empty an' the sky! The sky, Rose! There's nothing in it! It's just… empty."

Rose hugged her closer, glancing over her shoulder at the oddly silent Doctor, who was looking disdainfully in their direction.

"Leave off!" Rose hissed at him. "It's her first time!"

The Doctor didn't reply, still looking past the Tyler pair to Jack.

"An' then I fell over tha' alien thing!" She paused, turning to look at what she fell over and frowning thoughtfully. "It's a bit odd, though." She continued. "Not very hundred trillion though, is it? That coat's more like World War Two. Frightened the life outta me 'e did!"

Rose briefly glanced over towards the object of the discussion, half catching sight of deep blue before turning to face the Doctor. His face was frozen into an odd mix of distain and a slightly pained look.

"Doctor? What's wrong?"

He blinked, tearing his eyes away from his _wrong_ friend and towards Rose. "I think he came with us."

Jackie looked appalled. "'ow d'you mean, from Earth?"

The Doctor shrugged and raised his arm to rub the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "Must have been clinging to the outside of the TARDIS all the way through the vortex. Well, that's very him."

Rose's head snapped up in surprise, but Jackie beat her to the question. "What, do you know 'im?"

Rose released her mum from the hug and sat back onto her knees to get a good look at the mysterious figure. Humanoid. Fairly tall. Sturdy black boots.

"Friend of mine." Replied the Doctor, tugging his ear in agitation. "Used to travel with me, back in the old days."

Great blue overcoat, in a very World War Two like style. Dark hair.

Jackie gingerly placed a hand on the man's chest. "Well 'e 'asn't moved since I fell over 'im." She flinched, pulling her hand back as quick as she could. "'e's freezin'! Oh god! 'e's not dead is 'e? Oh my god! I jus' touched a dead body!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her hysteria. "No Jackie, he's not dead. He's just-"

The Doctor's lecture was cut short by the man of the hour gasping desperately and grabbing hold of the elder blonde, struggling to sit up. And by doing so, frightening the life out of one Jackie Tyler, who screamed loudly. The Doctor winced.

"Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"

Jackie's mouth flapped like a landed fish. "I'm… I'm Jackie." She squeaked.

"Nice to meet you, Jackie." Jack replied, smiling winningly.

The Doctor rolled his eyes again, huffing in annoyance. "Oh, don't start."

Jack glared at the Time Lord. "I was only saying hello."

Jackie, who had gotten over her panic fairly quickly all things considered, smiled somewhat dreamily, "I don't mind."

The Doctor was suddenly reminded of the first time he had met the elder Tyler woman.

"_There's a strange man in my bedroom."_

"_Yes, there is."_

"_Well…" she paused, adjusting her short dressing gown in a flirtatious manner. "Anything could happen."_

_The Doctor shook his head quickly, still smiling awkwardly. "No."_

Was he _really_ surprised about her reaction?

Rose, meanwhile, had been watching the conversation in a state of shock, still kneeing on the ground. Her mum, from the Powell Estate, was standing on a dark planet in the year one hundred trillion, helping one of her best friends, who she had thought was dead, to stand up after he had clung on to the side of the TARDIS, as she flew _through the vortex_, hitching a lift from Cardiff, her own time period, despite the fact the last time she'd seen him had been on Satellite Five in the year two hundred one hundred.

Fair to say, she was a little stunned.

After Jackie helped him to his feet, Jack squared up to the Doctor, all traces of good humour gone from his face.

"Doctor."

"Captain."

Jack paused, nodding stiffly. "Good to see you."

The Doctor returned the gesture just as stiffly, even his voice seemed strained. "And you. Same as ever." He couldn't quite stop the snide remark. "Although, have you had work done?"

Jack snorted. "You can talk."

The Time Lord looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh! Oh yes, the face. Regeneration. How did you know this was me?"

Jack smirked, knowingly. "The police box kind of gives it away." The Doctor laughed briefly, but the humour dropped out of the Captain's expression. "I've been following you for a long time. You abandoned me."

Suddenly the Doctor was incredibly interested in the blank sky above them. "Did I? Busy life. Moving on."

Rose was suddenly jolted out of her shock and quickly stood, whirling to face the Doctor, her blonde hair flying out behind her.

"You said he was dead!"

The Doctor took a step backwards in surprise at her outburst. "I didn't! I said he was busy rebuilding the Earth!"

"Well you weren't exactly convincing!"

"I was a bit distracted!"

"And who's fault was that?!"

The Doctor blustered. "Well, yours actually! If I hadn't had to take the time vortex out of you, I wouldn't have needed to regenerate!"

"Well if YOU hadn't have sent me home, I wouldn't have needed the time vortex would I?!"

"Well-!"

Jack cut the two of them off. "Are you too still not together then?" He sent a cocky grin in Rose's direction. "Because Rosie, you'd always be welcome in my place!"

"Oh, you… Jack!" Rose beamed, ignoring the Doctor for the moment in favour of reuniting with her long-lost sort of brother. "God I missed you!" she grinned, practically diving into his open arms.

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The rocky underbrush made it difficult to run. Pebbles skittered out from underneath his boots and sprayed across the path, tapping loudly against each other. The thunderous roar of the pursuing Future Kind echoed through the night. Padra leapt across a bank of pointed rocks, quickly changing direction again, hoping to lose the hunt in the hazardous terrain. He could still vaguely see where the Silo stood across the surface. It was a safe sanctuary for all those heading to Utopia, if only he could get there.

His breath tore through his lungs, burning a path through his chest. His legs were like jelly, barely supporting his weight. His head spun with a mixture of adrenaline, fear and panic and it looked like to Padra that the Silo was getting further away rather than closer.

But as any hunted animal knows, as much as fleeing burns and hurts, stopping would be worse.

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The rocky underbrush crunched underfoot as Captain Jack Harkness (with a Tyler woman on each arm) and the Doctor strode away from the TARDIS. The Doctor stood off slightly to the side of the group, trying to avoid Rose's glare that she kept shooting his way.

"So there I was," Proclaimed Jack, in full story telling mode. "Stranded in the year two hundred one hundred, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me." Rose winced and Jack gently patted her arm reassuringly. "But I had this."

He lightly shook the arm Jackie was clinging to, moving his jacket sleeve up to reveal a large, leather covered device.

"I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a vortex manipulator." Jack nodded towards the Doctor, who was still sulking off to his right. "He's not the only one who can time travel."

"Oh, excuse me!" The Doctor interrupted, rolling his eyes and huffing. "That is _not_ time travel. It's like, I've got a sports car and you've got a space hopper."

Jackie grinned wickedly. "Oh ho. Boys and their toys!"

Rose snickered and gently patted Jack on the arm in sympathy. Jack pouted. "All right, so I bounced. I thought 21st century, the best place to find the Doctor, except that I got it a little wrong. Arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless."

The Doctor looked smug. "Told you."

Jack ignored him. "I had to live through the entire twentieth century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me."

Rose's face fell. "Jack, I'm sorry."

He smiled reassuringly at her, patting her hand. "Not your fault, Rosie."

"'ang on!" Jackie interrupted, pulling the trio up short. "But tha' makes you more than a 'undred years old!"

The Captain grinned roguishly. "And looking good, don't you think?" Jackie blushed. "So I went to the time rift, based myself there because I knew you'd come back to refuel. Until finally I get a signal on this detecting you and here we are."

Jackie looked puzzled for a moment. "'ow come you left 'im behind, then Doctor?"

The Doctor shrugged, avoiding all eye contact. "I was busy."

Jackie faced turned thunderous. "Is that what happens, though, seriously? Do you jus' get bored one day and disappear? Is this wha' you're going to do to my Rose? Since you walked into our lives, I've been attacked in the streets. I've bog monsters from the pits of 'ell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth more times than I can count. An' tha's fine, 'cause you promised you'd keep 'er safe. Bu' I saw how heartbroken she was at Christmas when she thought you'd left 'er an' the time before that when we 'ad to borrow Rodrigo's truck to restart your TARDIS thing. She was a mess, she was. An' you're just gonna do tha' to 'er again?!"

"Mum, leave it will you?" Rose tried to placate her, despite still being mad at the Doctor for lying Rose lept to his defence. "'e's alien, he doesn't age like we do. He's already 900 and something, so I'll just give him my forever instead of his."

Jackie turned to Rose, surprised. "Wha' tha' supposed to mean? Don't you think you'll ever settle down?"

The corner of Rose's mouth twitched in a sad sort of smile. "The Doctor never will, so I can't." The Doctor winced, thankfully for him, Jackie didn't notice. "I'll just keep on travelling." She shrugged.

Jackie turned to get a good look at her daughter. "You've changed so much."

"She's not the only one." Mumbled Jack, but only the Doctor heard it.

"For the better." Rose turned to face her mum, squaring her shoulders aggressively.

Jackie shrugged, dropping her eyes. "I suppose."

"Mum, I used to work in a shop!"

"I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?"

Rose flapped her hands in annoyance, moving slightly to pace in front of her mum. "No, I didn't mean that. Look where we are Mum! We're in space, on an alien planet!"

"Well if you ask me it's a bit dark."

"Mum! That's not the point!" Rose sighed in exasperation. "We're here. You and me, in space! In the future. How can that not change you? Just a little?"

"But that's it, Rose!" Jackie moaned. "And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human. An' then one day he'll leave you; When you're too old to run anymore."

Behind Rose's back, the Doctor looked incredibly guilty, and this time, Jackie saw.

Rose sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Yes." She agreed, a bittersweet smile on her face. "But some things are worth getting your heart broken for."

Jack stepped forward to wrap his arms around the younger Tyler. "Well whenever she leaves him, Rose is always welcome to live with me." He grinned roguishly again. "I'll make an honest woman of her yet, Mrs Tyler."

"Ms." Jackie corrected automatically, blushing at the flirtatious attention.

"You two!" Interrupted the Doctor, glaring at Jack. "We're at the end of the universe, all right? Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy blogging!" He shrugged his shoulders angrily to adjust his coat. He looked just off the ridge ahead of where they stood to the strange beehive-like city Jackie had seen earlier. His eyes lit with the excitement of discovery. "Come on."

"Is that a city?" Asked Rose, stepping forwards to take the Doctor's hand, falling in to their usual routine despite her annoyance.

"A city or a hive, or a nest, or a conglomeration." He squeezed her hand reassuringly, an almost apology, and her lips quirked upwards. "Like it was grown." He continued, pointing towards the structure. "But look, there. That's like pathways, roads? Must have been some sort of life, long ago."

Jackie squinted towards where he pointed. "What killed it?"

The Doctor sighed and Rose squeezed his hand back. "Time. Just time. Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burned up and faded away into nothing."

Jack looked up, curiously, towards the sky. "They must have an atmospheric shell. We should be frozen to death."

"Well," The Doctor snarked. "Rose, Jackie and I, maybe. Not so sure about you, Jack."

"Stop it!" hissed Rose, smacking him on the arm. The Doctor had the grace to look mildly chastised.

"What about the people?" Asked Jackie. "Does no one survive?"

The Doctor looked grim. "I suppose," He said, gazing up into the starless sky. "we have to hope life will find a way."

Jack pointed towards the sprinting form of Padra, who was running along the ridge directly below theirs. "Well, he's not doing too bad."

The Doctor's eyes followed to where Jack was pointing. "Is it me, or does that look like a hunt?" He asked, suddenly bubbling with excitement. "Come on!"

The Doctor leapt forwards in pursuit, slightly dragging Rose behind him by their joined hands. Jack and Jackie shrugged and ran after them. The quartet quickly cut their way down the ridge onto the same level as Padra and the Future Kind, jumping between rocks and over small scrubland bushes.

Small rocks and pebbles crunched underfoot and made running difficult. Jack grinned, despite panting heavily. "Oh, I've missed this."

Rose heard him and called back over her shoulder, returning the grin. "Nothing like running for your life on a daily basis, eh Jack?"

Jackie, however, was not so impressed. "Oh god!" She wheezed, clutching a stitch in her side. "It's like you actually enjoy this!"

Jack dropped back slightly to keep pace with Jackie. "Don't worry gorgeous, if you need a ride, I'm always here to help a damsel in distress."

Fair to say the colouring of Jackie's face wasn't just from the exertion.

Up ahead the Doctor and Rose had almost caught up with the pack chasing Padra.

"So…" panted Rose, having to work twice as hard to keep up with the Doctor's long-legged pace. "Do we have a plan? Or do you plan to just run right into the murderous horde?"

The Doctor's pace faltered briefly. "I'm working on it." He grinned. Rose laughed at his idiocy and kept running, briefly glancing over her shoulder to check on her mum and Jack. The smile slid off her face.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor looked backwards and skidded to a stop. Behind them, Jack and Jackie had been cut off from them by another wave of the Future Kind who swept in from the side. Rose watched in horror as they were quickly herded in the opposite direction, away from the TARDIS. The Doctor's eyes flickered between Rose, the new horde and the fleeing man, his indecision obvious.

"Doctor!" cried Rose again "We've got to help them!"

She started towards her mum and Jack, when a third group of Future Kind burst from the underbrush heading straight for them. An animalistic roar accompanied the lead female Future Kind swinging her spiked swinging mace that was clenched in her fist.

"We've got our own problems!" yelped the Doctor, leaping forwards to re-grab Rose's hand. "Jack's with her, he'll watch out for them both!" Ignoring Rose's squeak of protest, he bolted for the TARDIS, dragging Rose with him.

"Human!" the Future Kind female bayed, the call long and loud. A tall, male, muscle bound Future Kind to her right took up the call. "Human!" He bellowed, waving his flaming torch around his head. The rest of the pack began chanting as they ran, pebbles skittering and flying from their heavy footfalls.

"That's fairly impressive." Commented the Doctor as they ran. "Being able to uphold a chant _and_ run? They must have incredible lung reserves…"

"Doctor!" panted Rose, interrupting his observation. "We have bigger problems. Like what they're saying!"

The animalistic, almost growled chant of, "_Hunt! Hunt! Hunt!_" was doing nothing for Rose's nerves.

"We just need to get to the TARDIS." The Doctor said, looking mildly unsettled himself. "Then we'll sort this whole mess out."

"And my mother?" gasped Rose, her thighs burning as they headed back up the steep and rocky slope.

The Doctor sighed, how he could do that and sprint at the same time was beyond Rose. The Doctor must have _incredible lung reserves_ of his own. "Yes fine." He grumbled. "And your mother. She's as jeopardy friendly as you are you know."

Rose didn't bother to reply as the TARDIS's wooden exterior loomed into sight. The Doctor sped up his pace to unlock the door, almost dropping his keys in the process.

"And wouldn't that be a way to go?" he muttered as he fumbled with the lock. "Death by keys." The door snapped open. "Certainly an original way, I'll give you that."

He held the door open as Rose burst past him and into the safety of the console room. The Doctor turned around to face and address the Future Kind. The TARDIS lit up behind him and sent a short static shock into the air in a protective ring. The Future Kind halted at the spectacle.

"I am the Doctor, and I invoke Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation for the cessation of hostile actions in order to parley. Identify yourself."

The hunt came to a stop just outside the TARDIS doors and moved to surround her, but still keeping a safe distance from the odd box. The lead female hissed at him.

"Oh! Come on now! No need to be like that." Called the Doctor, squaring his shoulders regally. "Just tell me who you are!"

The female leader looked puzzled for a moment. She straightened her stance slightly and replied in a grating voice, "We… are… hungry!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes I got that bit, but tell me your species."

"Humans. Humani. We… make feast… on you."

"Ah well, almost right." The Doctor babbled, beaming widely, "Not actually human me. Or a feast for that matter… Listen, I can give you food, just tell me who you are!"

The group's leader seemed to be getting they hang of human speech. "You give… youself to us, you are food." She said, baring her pointed teeth menacingly.

Ignoring Rose's snigger behind him the Doctor looked upwards for inspiration. "Well this is going nowhere." He muttered. He tilted his head to address the Future Kind again. "You will give back our friends; they are not to be harmed."

The female stepped forwards, eyeing the TARDIS warily. "They… are food! You give yourself… as food… you feed us."

The Doctor' expression darkened. "I'm warning you, give them back."

"Give yourself… to us." She turned to face the rest of the pack and raised her fist high. The answering roar echoed throughout the plain.

"I warned you." Said the Doctor, eyes hard. "This is your own doing."

He stepped backwards and the doors closed automatically. The Doctor's shoulders slumped as he turned to envelop Rose in a hug. She stepped forwards into his embrace eagerly.

"What do we do now Doctor?"

The Doctor gently stroked Rose's back. It could never be described as easy to hear someone class your own mother as food. "We, well…" the Doctor paused, mentally bracing himself for the coming outburst. "We wait."

"What?!" Rose screeched, pushing back from his chest.

The Doctor's arms automatically tightened around her, keeping Rose safe against his chest. "Several of the TARDIS systems were fried during the bolt through the vortex." He explained.

"Well can't you fix them?!"

"The TARDIS is organic Rose, a living breathing thing. You remember, don't you? Some bits she needs to heal herself."

Rose looked glum, and the Doctor squeezed her sides comfortingly. "Jack will look after your mum, you know he will." He grinned wolfishly. "And who knows, he might even keep his clothes on to do it!"

Rose giggled against his chest. "I don't think mum would mind if he didn't."

The Doctor smiled lightly and manoeuvred the pair of them over to the jump seat. "I bet she wouldn't." He agreed, kissing the top of her head gently. "But for now," he continued, "all we can do is wait."

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**Wow, this one was a biggie, 11 pages, 4,338 words! Okay, so there was a little bit of self-plagiarising but it needed to be done!**

**As always, please drop me a review and let me know what you think – your input can really make a difference!**

**Love and Hugs,**

**Spannerspoon out.**


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